Don't Judge A Flower By It's Petals
by Melody Wildrose
Summary: Daisy Achman is no normal ninja girl. She's such a mystery, only her closest of close friends have heard her voice! But, when Shikamaru Nara strolls into her life, has the "Queen of Guarded Hearts" met her match? OCShika, SasuNaru, HinaKiba
1. Chapter 1

A Ninja's Tale – A Naruto Fan Fiction

By princessmelody

A field. Two fighters. One a beautiful girl with long, dark-brown hair, skin like tanned porcelain, long, thin limbs – making her tall for thirteen – and the most mysterious, dark, sapphire-blue eyes. She had a flat expression on her child-like face, and spoke nothing to her enemy. The girl's badly beaten competitor, a boy of twelve, continued to taunt and jest at her, but in vain. The boy wore a black body suit, complete with black gloves, a black hat with cat-like ears, navy-blue shoes and a red-and-yellow emblem on his chest. The girl idly thought that the boy looked a bit silly with that purple make-up or paint on his face.

"C'mon, girly!" the boy taunted courageously, "Think you're so tough? Come at me. I dare you!"

Retaining her flat face, the girl cocked her head to the side. She was trying to recall his name.

'Wasn't it Kankuro or something?' she thought absentmindedly, 'Yeah, that's it. Kankuro.'

From high above the tournament field, Shikamaru was watching the battle. It had been explained that if the random person selected to fight the mysterious girl had not won their first match and beat her, then they would be able to continue to the next round. If the competitor didn't win, the match had no effect upon their standing. However, since Kankuro had won his match, his fighting the mute girl was of no consequence. But this girl made the scrimmage come alive again; she didn't look like much, but she was stronger than any of the other ninja present, and faster than even the beaten Rock Lee. Not to mention this girl was at _least_ as smart as Shikamaru. Even the Sensei didn't seem to know who she was, and everyone was impressed. Everyone except Naruto, Sakura, and their Sensei, Kakashi, that is.

Shikamaru had "wandered" over to them to investigate and ended up wrapped up in the intensity of the match next to Sakura.

"Who _is_ she?" he found himself muttering in begrudging awe, "Never seen her before…"

"Huh?" Sakura replied, tearing her eyes from the fight. Kankuro had just charged at the gorgeous brunette, but was easily knocked aside by four swift moves of her Bo staff. Her expression didn't change, save for her eyes gently closing when he drew near.

"Oh, that's Daisy." Sakura continued, looking between the fight and Shikamaru. "She's on our squad." Shikamaru wrenched his eyes off the girl – Daisy – to give Sakura an incredulous look…but her eyes were back on Daisy.

"Daisy's kinda like a stronger, faster, braver, and cleverer version of Hinata. In fact, they're best friends." Sakura added.

He nodded, "Makes sense." After a minute of silence to watch, he added, "She seems like a damn good warrior ninja, but she doesn't say much."

"Actually," Sakura threw in, "she never says anything. To anyone-" she suddenly seemed to remember something, "except Naruto and Hinata, maybe." Before she could go on, Naruto distracted her, pointing to the field. Shikamaru could see why: her metal Bo staff broken some distance away from her, Daisy was locked in heated hand-to-hand combat with Kankuro, who was getting tired, but still grinning like the Devil. Both Daisy and Shikamaru were wondering why on earth he was smiling so smugly. Daisy's eyes were lit with sapphire firelight.

Kankuro had two of his puppets out within moments of having to back away. The three of them circled Daisy in this odd, ritualistic-thing, attacking when the opportunity presented itself. But, cool as ever it seemed, Daisy was not phased, deflecting the blows with remarkable precision and speed.

Suddenly, the two puppets leapt with the intent of pouncing and capturing her. Daisy, however, was having no willing part of it. Using a jumping-splits-kick, she knocked both back with ease, landing in a striking predator's crouch. Then, for a second – one sparking, shimmering, fiery instant – Daisy's eyes connected to Shikamaru's. Even in the single moment, Shikamaru could just feel himself getting lost in those deep, guarded blue eyes; and Daisy just felt on the edge of her mind, the sensation of drowning in his intriguing gray-brown ones. That moment of time-freezing magic was broken first by Daisy returning her attention to her opponent. Caught off balance and off guard, a look of surprise flitted fleetingly across her delicate features before Kankuro's foot connected with her chin, sending the tiny girl flying.

Hitting the ground three times like a skipping stone, she finally slid to a stop face down next to her broken Bo staff. It was then that Shikamaru noticed two things: one, an eerie and sudden hush had descended upon the observers. Two, Daisy's staff appeared to have shrunken to the size of shiny nunchuks.

"HA!" Kankuro practically roared with triumph, "Not so strong NOW, are ya?"

The official guy to say if the match was over or not looked as surprised as everyone else as he hesitantly stepped forward to deliver the verdict.

"Daisy is unable to battle. The match goes to-!"

A general gasp arose from the crowd. Daisy was getting up! Still sitting on the ground, she retrieved the halves of her staff and stood. Putting the pieces together, she gave them a quick twist, and with a sharp click, the nunchuk-things now resembled a silvery lightning rod one could hold. Daisy gave the rod another quick twist, but this time there was a soft, dull clunk. Even with her hair acting as a curtain for her face, Shikamaru knew the expression there now was the passing shadow of confusion. She carefully turned the rod back and tried again slower. Same result.

Kankuro had been standing there, bewildered that Daisy _still_ was getting right back up if he knocked her down. Now, though, he was just pissed off. It was perfectly clear the one thought on his mind: Why the _HELL_ won't she just stay down?

Slowly now, as if disbelieving or angry, Daisy took the rod apart again and stowed it in her pocket. Shikamaru heard Sakura murmur softly, "Uh-oh…"

"Now he's done it." Naruto finished for her.

"What? What's going on?" Shikamaru asked, intrigued. Something big was going to happen, and he wasn't going to miss it.

"Kankuro actually broke Daisy's Bo staff. See, usually, if someone tries to break it," she explained, "she will just psych them out by faking that it's broken and fixing it later in the fight. But this time it's actually broke."

"Her staff is her starting weapon of choice. And since she uses it so much, she's used to having it alone." Naruto continued Sakura's thoughts, "But since it's broken, either she's pissed, or she's going to be."

Kankuro, finally pissed off enough to do something stupid, charged at the unmoving Daisy, screaming, "Why can't you take a hint and stay beaten?"

Daisy's head snapped up. Her hair flew back, eyes two electrical-firestorms of fury.

"Oh yeah. She's pissed." Shikamaru could just tell from the look on her face that justice would be taken for her lost weapon.

In a blur of color and motion, Daisy whipped something out of her blue denim backpack. Kankuro suddenly stopped short and looked scared for his life. And with good reason. Suspense hung high and thick in the air around the spectators as they all saw that Daisy had a silver shining blade practically on Kankuro's neck where he stood, inches from her. There was a murderous look in her shimmering blue eyes that had them all on edge.

"H-h-hey…," Kankuro stammered, hands raised, backing up slowly. Daisy's single hand – her right one – holding the two handed sword up with ease continued to shift the blade where it still presented a threat to him, should he try anything funny.

"D-don't do anything crazy here. Let's just talk it out first, at least."

Daisy's eyes narrowed further as he stepped carefully out of immediate slashing range. Everyone held their breath, for she kept her large blade trained on him the whole time.

Soon enough, he stopped backing up and, with head tilted down and eyes closed, smiled – grinned even – mischievously. Suddenly, he swooped his hands low, then brought them back up, just above his head instead of level with it like earlier. Then his puppets sprang back to life, leaping up from their crumpled positions on the floor. Cackling wildly, the pair jumped and zigzagged in between Daisy and their master, circling her in a diamond-formation. Their insane laughter turned into vicious shrieks when they finally turned on her to attack. She, however, effortlessly transformed her passive rage into active fiery passion, running her two would-be attackers through with her two swords: one a black, giant kunai-shaped weapon she'd pulled from her pocket at the last moment and changed it from its original form of a normal kunai. The other the white-ish silver two-handed sword that she'd whipped from her backpack earlier.

With a quick flick of the blades, she discarded the broken puppets and pounced upon Kankuro at a blinding speed. Knocking him down with a perfectly placed knee to his chest, she placed the two-hander delicately but directly on his throat. But no pressure, though; she wanted to scare the crap out of him, not kill him.

Daisy leaned down over him gently, and so close that for the faintest of moments, he thought she would kiss him. But she stopped just short and whispered softly, so that only he heard her voice.

"Kankuro of the Village Hidden in the Sand," she began to the terrified boy, "I will only say this once and this is the only time you will hear my voice, so listen carefully. I'm not going to kill you. But I will warn you." Her diamond-hard sapphire blue eyes softened to a liquid sapphire consistency, her expression stern and serious.

"You shouldn't take me on. I'm stronger, faster, and far more intelligent than I'm letting show. I've actually been holding back. Even a moment ago with your puppets I was holding back. Watch yourself, Kankuro. I'm way out of your league." She paused, leaned back a bit, and added, "Next time, try to be more tactful with your attacks. Your technique was for too obvious and sloppy. And I know you can do better."

With that, she removed her silver sword from his throat, got up, and began to walk away, leaving him stunned. Tapping the end of her black blade like she would a pen, it produced a metallic klanking and returned it to her skirt pocket when it was regular sized again. Her silver two-hander went back into her backpack.

Just as she was about to give the official guy the "it's over" signal, Kankuro jumped to his feet, ran over to her, and turned her to face him. Daisy had felt that he might want to take one last whack at her, so she steeled herself to retaliate. But what he did next, not even Tamari, Gaara, or their Sensei could have predicted: Kankuro grabbed Daisy and kissed her – right on the lips. A shock infused silence fit for the dead filled the room as the kiss stretched to a full second. Shikamaru realized he had the burning desire to jump down there, yank him off of her, and kick him square in the balls. He didn't understand why he felt that way, considering he didn't know her personally. 'Why does it even matter?' he wondered idly.

Kankuro finally pulled away after a couple seconds and grinned. There was nothing in Daisy's eyes, body language, or expression to suggest that she was anything but dumbfounded. He leaned forward again and whispered as softly as she had, "Out of my league, huh? Were you thinking about all kinds of leagues, or just the ones that involved fighting?"

Daisy had already been blushing profusely before, but when he said that, her cheeks flushed to a bright, rose-petal red, spreading a bit to the immediate area around her cheeks. One lone thought survived the shocked blankness of her mind; and it was rapidly rekindling her fury.

After a short pause, Daisy finally turned her attention back to Kankuro and, while kicking him in the balls, used her telepathy to banshee-scream into his mind, 'YOU BASTARD!'

'SON OF A BITCH!' she continued, kneeing him in the stomach.

'FUCKING ASSHOLE!' was added to a well-placed kick below the chin to send him high into the air. Finally jumping into the air with him, kicking him in the head, and sending Kankuro flying into the wall with blinding speed and force, she ended her mental tirade with, 'GO TO HELL, YOU FUCKING PERV!'

The intensity of her anger had made her so unbelievably strong that when Kankuro smashed into the solid brick wall, the force of it knocked some bricks loose from the wall, while completely dislodging others, and creating a sizable crater where he impacted.

Daisy landed light on her feet, her expression "mildly ticked" instead of her earlier "wild rage." Without waiting for the official, she made a beeline to the stairs leading up to the viewing area.

"Kankuro is unable to battle. The match goes to Daisy." The official called out calmly. But Shikamaru wasn't interested in him. What he _was_ interested in, however, was Daisy coolly pulling her slim, lean figure up the stairs to her teammates above. Even as the official guy was telling the winners (the passed out Kankuro aside) where they were to go for briefing about the next phase of this portion of the Chunin Exams, Shikamaru wasn't really paying attention. He did what he was told on automatic anyway, turning away from the foursome of Daisy, Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi to get to the room.

'Looks like I have some research to do once this all over…' he thought, looking back over his shoulder at Daisy while Sakura peppered her with questions. As if she had felt his eyes on her, she glanced his way, deep dark eyes locking onto his gray-browns. This time, Shikamaru was the first to look away.

Though Shikamaru walked away and to the next task with a secret smile playing on his lips, Daisy was the one left wondering. Who was he? And why did her heart skip a beat both times their eyes had met?

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

End Part 1 of: A Ninja's Tale


	2. Chapter 2

'What a beautiful night sky.' she thought, her mind galaxies away from what was going on around her. She always found that, when losing herself in the stars and lunar cycles, she wished for her canvas and paints to picture what she saw there.

"Daisy." The voice sounded distant, like an echo.

"Daisy." It repeated. It sounded feminine.

"**Daisy!**" Finally wrenched from her thoughts, she realized the voice belonged to Sakura. Lazily, as if bored, she turned her head to focus her sapphire blue gaze on the pink-haired girl.

"Finally!" Sakura sighed, "I thought I'd have to ask what planet your brain was on."

Chuckles went around among the other guests. Daisy would have joined their fun, but she had learned long ago that to restrain one's self was to reveal nothing, including weaknesses.

"Here," Sakura pushed a hat towards her when the laughter died down, "it's your turn." For a moment, Daisy just looked blankly at it like the hat was something she didn't want.

'What were we doing again?' she thought, 'And how'd I end up in this situation?'

Right after the Chunin Exams were over, Sakura called everyone who could to come meet her and Ino at the village center. Naturally, that extended to Daisy as well. And when the pair had announced that they would be co-hosting a "thank-god-the-exams-are-over" party and everyone was invited, the good majority of the crowd started buzzing excitedly. Daisy had turned to leave when the guy next to her asked if she was going. It had been Sauske. In response, she had simply shrugged and used her sign-language to ask the same.

"Not a chance." he had answered, "Parties are overrated." She had nodded her agreement when Naruto came running over from the crowd, grinning and waving.

"Hey, Daisy!" he had called over the general hubbub, "You gonna go?"

Again, she had shrugged and signed for "_I don't think I will._"

"What?" Naruto frowned "Why? It'll be fun!"

"_Because, as you know, I'm not a party girl. Just not my thing._"

At that, he had looked like he was thinking.

"Okay, how about this:" – oh, how she hated when he bargained with her – "We'll go to this party together. You _try_ to have fun. And _if_ you hate it _that much_, I'll take you home, and I'd never ask you to go to another party with me again." He had paused. And boy was she liking the whole idea of the party less and less!

"But," he finally continued, "if you do end up enjoying it, you have to not complain about anything and everything I take you to for two months." Grinning again. "Sound good?"

'No, it doesn't.' she remembered thinking to herself. 'In fact, that sounds like the worst idea I've heard in a while.'

"_Sure. Fine. I'll go._" she had said instead. "_But if this thing sucks, you're not going to hear the end of it for a _long_ while._" She had finally convinced herself to say yes by weighing the factor of one night of torture against never doing something she didn't like or want to do again. And never sure was a long time.

Naruto had smiled like never before. "Great!" he had exclaimed while running off, "I'll pick you up at six-thirty!"

As Daisy waved good-bye, she had noticed Sauske trying to sneak away out of the corner of her eye. By then, he was a good several yards away. An easy distance for her to cover quickly. So, she moved up behind him and grabbed his arm. He had whipped around in surprise.

"What the- how the hell did you get over here so fast?"

Instead of answering his question, she gave him her potent look-and-gesture combo for "_And where do you think __you're__ going?_"

"I'm going home." he responded sharply. "I have no intentions on going."

"_Well, according to what all I know and can use against you to make you come, you __are__ going. I will NOT be tortured alone._" Normally, she preferred not to stoop to blackmail, but among the things she knew about Sauske, one of them was what it would take to make him go to the party.

He knew that too, and so very wisely chose to let her drag him along. "How I'm getting there, though…" he had told her, "that's your problem."

And now, with Sauske flanking her right and Naruto on her left, Daisy inwardly grimaced.

'Oh yeah. That's how I got here. But that still doesn't tell me what we're doing…'

Daisy leaned forward to look into the hat.

'Slips of paper? With numbers on them?'

"You weren't listening when we explained the game, were you?" Sakura sighed softly. Her blank look was enough.

Ino rolled her eyes dramatically and stepped around Sakura.

"For this part of the game – called 'Seven Minutes in Heaven' – you pull a card from the hat and read the number on it to see who you're partnered with." Daisy didn't like the way she'd smiled at "Seven Minutes in Heaven."

She turned to Sakura, one thin eyebrow arched. Sakura knew the meaning of that look.

"There's no catch. But," she added quickly, "the point of the game is to go into the closet or room or whatever with your partner – in this case, the person whose number you drew – and do whatever with them for the given time."

"Normally the time limit is seven minutes, like in the title." Ino interjected, "But we decided to make the time limit an hour, for a more..._interesting_ twist."

Daisy now looked between Ino, the hat, and stopped on Sakura. She gave her a look of "_That's all? That simple? No tricks?_"

"Yep. It's that easy. No fooling." Sakura said with confidence.

And so, after a moment or two of hesitation, she put her hand in, shuffled the cards, and pulled one.

**The card had an eight on it.**

Ino quickly grabbed the card from her (knowing full well that Daisy wasn't about to read aloud) and called over the quietly buzzing group of ninja, "Who's got number eight?"

They shut up right away. Then, a sleeping boy Daisy hadn't noticed was in attendance snored suddenly. Everyone but Ino, who just looked annoyed, laughed.

"When did he fall asleep?" Ino demanded to – was it Chochi? – who was sitting next to him on the floor. "I thought I told him to stay awake!" She now moved around behind the couch and rolled the sleeping kid off, yelling "Get up!" He landed face-first with a great _WHUMP!_ A pause of silence...then he uttered a muffled snore, causing almost everyone to start cracking up. Finally, the Chochi-kid nudged "sleepy-kid" awake.

"Come on, man. Wake up. The number's eight." he told the kid, still smiling from laughing. The guy sat up and yawned, glancing at his card. He took a moment to stare at it, as if to really register the number on the card, then pushed it into the ever-more frustrated-looking Ino's hands. While she fumbled with the card, the kid got up and slouched over to the bedroom door, hands in his pockets.

**Because his card had an eight on it.**

And he stood there, waiting for the person who'd drawn his card to get up so they could get it over with. He couldn't tell who it was with all eyes on him. Just as he considered asking whoever it was to get up at the very least, there was movement by the window. Glancing in that direction, his heart did an almost unnoticeable little jump when he saw the dark-haired, dark-eyed Daisy rise from her seat on the window sill.

Without a word she slid past him. He quickly followed, several jealous boys' eyes on his back.

Once both were in, the door was locked, sealing them inside the dark room. "Sleepy-kid" looked around when his eyes adjusted, noticing that their hostesses had so kindly taken the liberty of taping the light-switch to "off" position. Then he watched as Daisy plunked the stool from the vanity down right below the high-up window and plopped down onto it. He wondered why she was here, considering she didn't seem like the type for goofy, immature parties like this one.

"If you didn't want to be here, why did you come?" he blurted before realizing what he'd said.

Daisy was a bit surprised that the kid had spoken to her, since she had made it rather obvious that she didn't want to talk. So she turned to him, a look of "_What?_" on her face.

"I said if you don't want to be here, why are you?" His tone was genuine and curious, not accusatory. She decided she'd answer him.

Getting up and pulling an Expo marker out of her backpack, she went over to the vanity mirror and scribbled, "_It wasn't really my choice. Naruto wouldn't have stopped bugging me about it until I came with him._"

The guy read her answer and half-smiled. "Aaaahh. That sounds like him." he shook his head and added, "Troublesome knuckle-head."

"_I know, right?_" she wrote back, a small, brief smile touching her rosy lips. Then she waited for him to read it, and when he was done, turned back to her make-shift whiteboard to erase her messages. At the back of her mind, two totally different feelings were chasing each other. One, a sense of unease for the sudden drop in the walls she kept around her; the other, a sensation of "I've seen that person somewhere before..." The first one begged the question: how had this stranger kid she barely knew get past her defenses so easily? Only three people had done that before...

As the guy watched her, the soft moonlight pouring in from the window bathed her in hues of white and blue. Her dark-chocolate colored hair became a shining cascade of brown-tinted ravened water, rolling down her back in gentle waves and ending at the small of her back. Her caramel skin tone shifted to a soft dirty-ivory, still as perfect as a porcelain doll's. And even her eyes transformed, appearing to be navy-blue gems instead of sapphires.

Then out of the blue, an idea struck him.

"Hey." "Sleepy-kid" said suddenly. Daisy turned back to him and cocked her head slightly. Gesturing to the window, he said, "Since neither of us want to be here, why don't we leave? We can come back before time's up so they don't freak that we 'vanished.'"

Daisy didn't even have to think about it. She nodded that she liked the plan and went to move the stool out of the way. The kid easily slid behind her to unlatch the window. Just then, it hit her where she'd seen him before.

**She remembered seeing him multiple times during the Chunin exams!**

Then she recalled that she'd never once paid any attention to what his name might have been. Getting his attention, she hand-signed, "_What was you're name again? I wasn't listening if they said it._"

He smiled kindly and turned back to open their way out. "It's Shikamaru. But you can call me Shika for short if you want." he added and climbed out. When Daisy pulled herself up into the window frame, one hand gripping it for balance, she found Shikamaru holding out a hand to help her down. She paused out of surprise. She was still marveling at him when she hesitantly took his hand and hopped down. She stumbled when she landed, and he arrested her fall quickly. She smiled looking into his eyes, her own shining with wonder, and mouthed, "_Thank you...Shikamaru._"

He smiled back easily and told her it was nothing. Then he asked, "Well, since we can go anywhere and do anything, where do you want to go? And, what do you want to do?"

She considered the problem, then remembered a solution.

"_There's a concert tonight by the Hokage Heads. We could watch it from the top of the ridge._"

"Oh yeah, I heard about that. Let's go."

The whole way there, neither of them said a word until they reached the ridge and had to hide in the shadows from a guard.

"Damn. Didn't think it'd be guarded." Shikamaru muttered a few minutes later, when they had been passed by twelve guards. They couldn't make any progress.

"_Hang on._" Daisy mouthed, looking around for the coast clear, "_I know another way up the guards won't be patrolling. Follow me._"

The pair went back down a short ways and came to a cave, which she went right into. When the tunnel opened back up for two, the mouth provided a good spot to sit and listen to the music drifting up from the stage. Miley Cyrus was on stage now, singing _Good and Broken_.

They sat in silence for a spell, then Shikamaru commented on how bad her singing was.

"_I said it was music._" Daisy replied, a soft smile on her lips. "_I never said it was __good__ music._"

He laughed lightly and grinned. "True, true. Not your fault it's her or that she sucks."

Without thinking, she smiled in a way that suggested she was amused, her eyes dancing and twinkling sort of dance. And for the next long while, they sat and talked, playing a sort of get-to-know-you type of _Twenty Questions_ game. He gave her direct answers. She came back with vagueness and mystery, hinting at the truth. She was, in a way, challenging him to find her again once this was over. A test of if he was really interested in her. But even with her cautious way of telling him things, she couldn't stop herself from smiling and laughing under the music with him. Her walls were down, her defenses obliterated...and she didn't care. Finally, she resolved herself to answer his next questions directly, instead of avoiding them.

"Okay, okay. How about...just for the heck of it, who was your first kiss?"

Daisy blushed sharply and bit her lip. "_Actually, you already know that one._" Hesitation. "_You saw it – everyone did – during my fight with Kankuro._"

"Wait. So you're telling me Kankuro stole your first kiss?"

"_Yeah...that's why I went berserk. Please don't laugh._"

Shikamaru took a moment to try and blink away his incredulous expression, but only succeeded in morphing it with a look of irritation before barking a clipped, harsh laugh.

"Huh! That perverted bastard! I knew he was bad, but I had no idea..." he exclaimed, much to Daisy's surprise.

"_You're not going to laugh at me for getting mad at him?_"

"Why should I? I've figured out by now that a girl's first kiss is special to her." – well that explained why he'd asked – "But for him to take that from you? What an ass!"

"_That's what I thought!_" she agreed. They both paused and listened to Taylor Swift sing her song _Enchanted_. Then she turned to look at him, her head resting on knees that had been pulled up to meet her chest. He felt her looking at him, so he returned her gaze.

"_You know something Shikamaru? You're a lot different than the other guys in the village. Most of them won't talk to me, or the ones that do don't say anything but gibberish. But not you._" she added, a slow, easy smile gracing her lips, "_I like that._"

To Shikamaru, that smile, _her_ smile, made everything around her seem brighter, friendlier, kinder, and especially...warmer. That smile let him know everything was okay.

Suddenly, a thought struck Daisy. "_Hey, how long have we been here? We might want to head back._" With that, she rose and headed back through the way they came, Shikamaru close on her heels.

"You know what? That is a good question." he answered as they emerged from the cave and he checked the time. When he saw what time it was, a knot formed in his stomach. "Oh, _shit_!"

"_What is it? What's wrong?_"

"We've been gone for three hours!"

Her eyes widened and her thoughts began to whirl in her head like a cyclone. Luckily, she was still as calm as ever.

"_We've got to hurry._" she mouthed quickly, "_Come on!_"

"How are we gonna – whoa!" he cried as he was practically yanked off his feet when she grabbed his hand and started to run. Because of her, they would have looked like a flying blur of color to a passerby. And that is exactly what every concert guard they passed saw: a shapeless, floating blob of color that moved incredibly fast. Even by a ninja's standard of speed, she was moving at an inhuman pace.

Once they were going fast enough, she let go of his hand. Even as he struggled to keep up with her, he randomly noticed how lovely her long hair looked when it was wind-blown.

Soon enough they reached the house again and Daisy stopped by the wall. Without breaking stride, Shikamaru leapt up and through the still open window. When he landed, he turned around to help her through as well. Then of course, they hit a dangerous snag.

"_Wait, wait! I'm caught!_" she mouthed, "_My jeans are stuck!_"

"Hold still. I'll pull you loose." he whispered.

After some working, he did get her hem freed, with her hands on his shoulders for support of her tiny weight. But at the same time, they both heard Sakura and Ino arguing and fighting with the locked door. Their hearts hammered in perfect time with each other, though neither one knew it.

When he heard the girls struggling with the door, Shikamaru turned away from the wall. When he did, Daisy's precarious perch gave way for her to tumble from the window. He immediately whipped back around and caught her, spinning her elegantly and safely into the middle of the room.

Her arms had slid from their spots on his shoulders to rest behind his neck, crossed comfortably.

He had caught her with hands around her middle, but they now were clasped behind her back, arms still around her waist.

Both sets of eyes were locked on the other's.

Both faces were inches apart.

Both heard the other's breath catch.

Both hearts skipped a beat.

**And then the lock to the door clicked.**

Just a suddenly as the moment had come, it passed when they jumped away from each other. The door swung open dramatically and they grimaced at the flood of bright light.

"Hey guys! We're-we're really sorry for leaving you in here so long." Sakura said, stepping into the room. "We forgot all about it when we were playing games to keep us busy. Really sorry guys!"

Daisy took a step forward so Sakura could see her and shrugged, miming that it wasn't a big deal and they weren't mad.

"No point to getting flustered over it." Shikamaru said from the half-light. Sakura looked greatly relieved.

"Okay then. Well, come join the rest of the party. It's someone else's turn." she grinned at her own joke as she left them alone once more.

Daisy paused before turning back to Shikamaru with a smile that screamed of trying not to start laughing. He grinned back, wide and unbound. Neither of them knew how they hadn't been caught ditching; nor did they care. Both just knew that they had a wonderful time and were happy they hadn't been seen.

"_Thanks for the fun time, Shikamaru. And thanks for being such an awesome guy._" she mouthed before hugging him. When he was still holding her in his arms, she finished with, "_You really are something else. Something I'm not used to._" She smiled her special slow-and-easy smile that made her eyes seem to shimmer. And now they sparkled more than ever.

He smiled right back with a mixture of joy and…a feeling he didn't recognize. But he was only concerned with it she was happy.

"Sometimes, change and differences are good things." he replied, letting her go.

Finally, she turned back to the open door to leave. But once more, she stopped. turning just enough so that he could see her profile. She mouthed, "_I hope I can see you around sometime._"

With that, Daisy walked away.

Little did either of them know, but they had been watched.

The silver-haired boy with perfectly circular glasses had followed them all night, listening and watching from the shadows. Ever since she was five, he'd been assigned to watch Daisy's every move and report anything of interest. Now, he finally had something to tell.

"This..._development_...is something He will want to know." he murmured to himself as he shifted positions to get a better vantage point. "Something He'll want to know indeed."


	3. Chapter 3

Two months. _**Two months**_. Shikamaru sighed in frustration at the results of another fruitless internet search. Sure, he'd seen his query plenty around the village. And when she was going out on missions with her squad – when they had still been a squad, that is. Now all he ever saw of the mysterious Daisy was a fleeting glimpse of her back or a small blur of dark brown as she turned a quick corner. And so it seemed she was just as invisible to the Internet as she was him. He'd hacked every city website he could think of, looked in all the official documents he could get for their year, and sponged all the info that was possible about her from her ex-teammates and closest friends. And not any of those sources gave all the necessary data he wanted on her, even when compiled.

'No wonder she challenged me to find her.' Shikamaru thought, pushing his laptop away and picking up the town's 1997 records for births and population. 'She almost doesn't exist!'

He'd leafed through the tome enough by now to have it memorized, down to the exact punctuation marks. But he chose to look again anyway. And every time, he found everyone in the village – except Daisy. There was no surprise in that fact. And then it hit him: was he possibly looking in the wrong records? Maybe if he checked a different year...

Then he got the feeling that someone was behind him. Sitting in the middle of the town hall lobby with his back to the door gave him that sensation every time a person walked in. But this one was stronger than he'd ever felt it. So he gently pushed the books aside, pulled his earbuds out, and waited. And when he thought the not-so-sneaky person was close enough, he leaned back, stretching his neck back so to see them. What he got was an upside-down, surprised Shizune.

"Hey." She'd stopped short of reaching Shikamaru and muttered a delayed return greeting.

"Lady Tsunade requests you come to her office right away." she said after regaining her composure.

"How troublesome." he sighed, moving to get up. "Tell her I'm coming."

"Alright. Please don't keep her waiting long, though." And with that, she turned back and left him to his thoughts. After getting his things and starting his way up to her office, think he did.

'Why would Tsunade be calling me personally about this?' he wondered. 'And why didn't Ino text me about it?'

When he opened the door to the Lady Hokage's office, he was welcomed by Tsunade looking up from something on her desk and the backs of three of his classmates.

"There you are. What the hell took you so long?" Tsunade said, motioning for him to stand next to one of the girls on the end.

"Research. My bad." Shikamaru responded with his casually bored tone. She just snorted in irritation.

"Fine. Everyone, meet everyone else."

The other three began to look around at each other, so he took that as his queue to do the same. He quickly noticed that the only other guy there was that red-headed Gaara kid from the Village Hidden in Sand, and one of the two girls – not the one he was next to – was the shy little Hyuga girl, Hinata. Then, the girl standing next to him turned to face him.

With a heart-wrenching jolt, Shikamaru realized that the beyond beautiful girl he was seeing…was none other than the same girl he'd been trying so hard to find: the elusive Daisy.

He was struck speechless, but she seemed distracted and distant, or deep in thought…or troubled by something. He couldn't tell from the flat expression she had on. Then Tsunade interrupted his thoughts before he had long to dwell on it.

"These people are going to be your teammates until this mission is over. Study them. Get to know them if you don't already. Use your skills with theirs for the good of the mission and the team."

"Why the four of us?" Gaara asked bluntly, voicing what they were all thinking.

"Because this mission is too dangerous for any one of you or your assigned teams alike. But each of you has unique traits that can be well used when you four are put together. Hinata is especially adept with stealth and disguises. Gaara specializes in strength and intimidation. Shikamaru is the brains, strategy, and tact of the group. And Daisy has some of each of those, with extra speed, strength, and wisdom to add insight. She is also an experienced medical ninja, so she'll be taking care of injuries. All those things, when put together, is what makes the four of you a sort of 'dream team,' if you will. Any questions?"

Hinata timidly raised her hand. "A-actually, from the w-way you talked ab-bout Daisy, i-i-it sounds like sh-she could do this o-on her own. D-don't get me wrong," she added hastily, "she's my friend, a-a-and I believe in her, b-but…"

"But you think you might get in the way because she can do it all, right?" Tsunade sighed. "In all honesty, you've got it right. Daisy could do this on her own. However, I don't trust her not to come back without looking like someone ran her over with a lawn mower."

Daisy only half-heard what Tsunade was saying. 'I wish she wouldn't talk about me like that…' she thought, 'It's just embarrassing.'

"So what's this mysterious mission we're supposed to do, anyway?" Shikamaru finally asked.

"Right." Tsunade continued, "Your mission is this: go into the Village Hidden in Sound and do simple reconnaissance." She paused to reach into her desk for something. Then, she pulled out some papers, a cork stopper, a pocket sewing kit, and a medical kit.

"Shikamaru," she finally went on, handing him some of the papers, "here are maps of the land and blueprints of the buildings you'll need to infiltrate." She turned to Hinata.

"You'll need this for disguises, Hinata." She said, handing her the sewing kit. Next, she picked up the stopper and held it out towards Gaara.

"Temari dropped this off for you. And she said to keep better track of it." Gaara looked back over his shoulder at the large gourd on his back he used to carry his sand in. He paused, then took his stopper from her and put it where it belonged – in the opening of the gourd.

"Daisy." Tsunade paused. "I figured you might need these." With that, she pushed the medic's kit forward, the last paper lying on top. It was rolled up like a scroll, and had a look of importance to it because of dual seals. But Daisy paid no mind as she dropped the items into her backpack.

"Your journey begins tomorrow morning. _Early_. Use the rest of the day to pack up and say goodbyes." Another pause. "Alright, get out. Except you, Daisy. We need to talk."

So Daisy stayed. Shikamaru looked back at her as he left, half believing that she'd vanish once more the moment he wasn't looking.

Once everyone was gone, Daisy lifted her tired and troubled deep blue eyes off the floor and murmured aloud, "What is it, Tsunade?"

Tsunade sighed in a half-sad, motherly way.

"Daisy, honey...I know something's up. You've been acting weird since you got back a couple weeks ago. Sweetheart, you know you can tell me when something's eating at you."

"Nothing's wrong, Tsunade." Daisy replied sharply, her tone annoyed. Her similar expression and voice softened before she continued. "My mind's just been somewhat...preoccupied lately, that's all."

Tsunade sighed again, only more frustrated this time.

"I know you, Daisy. When you're waist high in a problem, you can't be your best until you solve it. So why won't you tell me what's wrong?"

"Because you don't need to know!" Daisy snapped, sick of playing Tsunade's game.

"You can play house all you want, Tsunade, but it'll always be the same thing in the end. There _is no_ home, there _is no_ family, and there _is no_ long-lost or adopted daughter. So WAKE UP and smell the REALITY already!"

By now, Daisy had wandered around the room until she'd reached the door during her rant. Her fiery anger dimmed to embers, she turned the doorknob, but didn't leave right away.

Her voice low and soft, she growled, "No matter what you think Tsunade, you're **not** my mother, and you never **will be**. So stop acting like it."

With that, she thrust the door open and stormed out, making sure to slam it on her way out.

3 [] 3

Early the next morning, Daisy stood alone by the village gate, awaiting her comrades' arrivals. When then finally did show up, she mimed "_You're late, guys._ _But, time waits for no ninja. Let's get moving._" She signed.

And so they did. They made good progress across the blurring landscape, making it to the first marked good camping spot before three in the afternoon. The whole way there, Daisy hadn't spoken to any of them, preferring the solitude of leading the way. And all the time, Shikamaru was becoming more and more curious about her. Especially because of how little he knew about her.

Daisy was an only child, and a thirteen-year-old orphan to boot.

She lived without anyone to take care of her.

She only ever actually spoke to a select few.

She was a well trained warrior, and had been through too much for a girl her age.

And even with a bit more than that, he still wasn't satisfied. So when they got to the campgrounds, Shikamaru decided to talk to her directly. He found Daisy standing at the edge of the island on the waterfall they were camping by. It was rough getting out to her, but it worked. Her eyes fixed on the horizon, she was so close to him, but she seemed so far away...

"Hey." Shikamaru called over the waterfall. Daisy snapped back to life and turned to him with a questioning look.

"I was hoping we could talk."

She stepped closer and mimed "_About what?_"

He shrugged. "Nothing specifically. Just kinda...talk."

She came even closer, to hear him better. "_Alright. Like last time?_"

"Sure. Me or you?"

"_You go first._"

"'Kay. To start, I'd really like to know: I looked almost everywhere for you. You weren't in most of the records I checked, and where you were drew blanks. So my question is, why couldn't I find you?"

She paused, looking down and away from him.

"_My... My dad made it a habit to erase most or all of the evidence that we'd been in a place when we were moving. It's a quirk I picked up._"

"Mmm. Makes sense. Harder to be tracked that way. Anyways, your turn. Fire away."

She hesitated, taking a moment to think. "_Why were you looking for me?_"

He smiled wryly. "So I could get to know you better. I know I may _seem_ lazy, but if something – or someone – has my interest, I go after it."

Daisy smiled kindly.

"Okay, my turn. You seemed to be off in your own little world on the way here. Something bugging you?"

She hesitated. Then, "_It's…it's nothing. Just something I have to think about._"

He frowned, sensing the partial lie in her words and not taking the bait to drop it. Instead, he decided to keep pushing. Something was wrong, but he would have to get her to tell him what.

"Well, if you have to think about it so hard, why not tell me about it?" he coaxed gingerly. "Two heads are better than one…or so I've heard."

"_I've thought about that too. I'll be the first to admit, I need help. Unfortunately, my problem is too…_"

'Too dangerous? No, that'll just make him want to help me more.' she thought.

"…_personal._" she finally concluded. "_I'd much rather not drag anyone else into it._"

"So, you're basically saying that you'd prefer not to get help, even though you know you need it." His words were clipped, arms folded across his chest. Inwardly, he winced at the harshness of his mistaken tone.

"_Yes, I suppose._" Daisy replied, pursing her lips slightly. "_When you put it that way, though, it sounds worse than it is. But I don't want to talk about that anymore. Next question?_"

"Alright, fine. Since you don't _have_ to deal with your situation alone, why not tell me so I can help? I'm offering to."

"_Because it's too personal, too dangerous, and too not-your-problem. Can you just get off it?_"

"No." Shikamaru pushed, determined. "I know something's up and I want to help. No matter what you say."

"_Look,_" she mimed fiercely, "_it's nice that you want to help, but I don't want anyone to get hurt on my account. So I'm going to deal with __my__ problem __on__my__own__._"

"Fine!" he growled back, "But even if you don't want help, it might do you good to talk to someone about it."

"_Thanks, but no thanks._" Daisy was getting tired of being pestered. She tried to go around Shikamaru to leave, but he stepped in her way.

"Why won't you talk to me?" he demanded, deciding he was done with her game.

"_Because it's none of your business what's wrong with me! I mean, we barely know each other. Why do you even care?_"

"Because I –!"

Shikamaru halted his sentence because the tiny, water-slickened island beneath them shook violently. Right then, he remembered that the area their group was in was famous for it's completely random and incredibly massive earthquakes.

He somehow managed to stand his ground, but Daisy wasn't so lucky. Trying to stay on her feet and failing, she fell with a wet little slap. Before she knew what was going on, she found herself clinging to the soaked rock-face with one hand, dangling over the edge of the raging waterfall.

"DAISY!" Shikamaru cried, seeing her disappear. The extreme shaking of the earthquake stopped as suddenly as it had come, throwing him off balance as pitched forward to try and pull her up. He landed just close enough to grab her, but too late, for her grip didn't last.

Time suddenly moved in slow motion. Both of their hearts stopped while seconds trickled away, feeling more like hours. Then everything jumped into hyper-speed and Shikamaru recklessly leapt after her, latching onto her arm and grabbing onto the rock with is other hand.

"Hang on Daisy!" he shouted, hoping she could hear him. She didn't have to to understand him.

'Please Shikamaru,' she begged him in her thoughts, 'don't let go!'

But the wet stones were just too slick, and like a wet bar of soap held too tightly, his hand slipped after only a few seconds.

With nothing left to hold on to but each other, the pair fell like stones, racing the water coming from the fall. Both their lives flashed before their eyes and they were sure that they were going to die. Shikamaru pulled Daisy into him instinctually, as some sort of last attempt to protect her from certain doom.

Together, they plunged head-first into the cold waters below the 150-foot fall.

And Hinata, having seen it all, screamed from 150-feet above them.


	4. Chapter 4

"C'mon, c'mon! Surface already! Please," Hinata begged to no one, "come back up! Don't be dead!"

"What happened?" Gaara came over to her in a hurry after hearing her scream bloody murder. He quickly began pulling her away from the edge of the waterfall they were camping near.

"Daisy! And Shikamaru!" Hinata exclaimed in short burst, "They fell over the edge! During the quake!" It wasn't often that Gaara was alarmed, but he was certainly freaked out now.

"We have to contact Tsunade. You do that. In the meantime, I'll look for them." She nodded and bolted in the direction of the nearest town for help.

Gaara paced for a moment, worried. The Shikamaru-guy was new to him, but Daisy… He'd known her since they were kids. Even back then she'd been a little badass. Sweet and adorable, sure; but in a fight, a total badass. He'd personally seen her take worse than a fall. So why was he so worried?

Far down below, a boy's head exploded out of the fast moving water, gasping for air. He quickly pulled a beautiful girl above the water's surface as they were washed further and further downstream. He knew the girl's arm was injured, so he pulled her close, put her good arm around his neck and swam for shore. By the time they made it, the tall waterfall they had fallen from was long out of sight.

Shikamaru trudged out of the river, Daisy in his arms. Both of them were extremely tired from their little trip. Still, neither was willing to give in to the lure of sleep just yet.

Shikamaru walked all the way to the shade at the edge of the forest and carefully set Daisy down in the soft grass. As her trembling hand slid from around his neck, he took it and used his other hand to help her lean against a tree. Then he switched hands and fell against the tree next to her.

Once they'd caught their breath, he glanced over at her and gently moved a wet lock of long hair aside. She turned her head with his motion, pressing his palm to her cheek and opened her weary, deep blue eyes. An instinct told Shikamaru that Daisy wasn't shaking just because she was cold. He gave her a half-hearted, but reassuring smile. She weakly returned the smile, sharing his thought: after all that, at least they were still alive.

Daisy then scooted closer to Shikamaru and leaned into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, adjusting so not to bother her limp and injured left arm.

Without a word, they quickly succumbed to the numbing exhaustion clouding their minds.

Daisy awoke a few hours later to pressure being applied to her thigh. She forced her eyes to slowly open and dropped a hand on her left leg. To her surprise, the source of the pressure was Shikamaru using his jacket to stop her wound from bleeding out farther.

Shikamaru looked up in surprise at her touch.

"You're awake…" he murmured.

Daisy noted that he'd somehow gotten wet again when she saw the water glittering on his exposed skin. Her heartbeat quickened when she found herself admiring the way he looked in the amber light. Alarmed, she tried to back up, rammed her injured arm into the tree behind her and the leg Shikamaru held throbbed painfully.

"Hey, careful!" Shikamaru protested, moving closer and brushing hair out of her face. "You're too hurt to be fussing like that." Daisy didn't argue.

"You were bleeding pretty bad when I woke up," he continued, "so I tried to stop it and clean you off. I, uh, accidentally fell into the river in the process." He gave her an awkward smile, half wondering why he'd let that slip. Daisy just nodded sharply while gritting her teeth, waiting for the dull but powerful pain in her leg to ease.

He frowned, trying to mentally guess just how much pain she was in. Suddenly, he remembered that she was a medical ninja in addition to her skills as a warrior ninja and asked if she had her medical kit with her. She nodded and mouthed, "_In the front pocket of my backpack. The light-blue suitcase shaped thing_."

"Okay… Okay, I got it."

"_Alright. Inside there should be two small bottles._" she went on, "_Help me up, then get those out_."

Shikamaru did as he was told…and then almost dropped the tiny glass bottles when he turned around. His heart dramatically skipped a beat and jumped to a faster gear when he saw her. Daisy had managed to get her torn and blood-stained black shorts off and was sitting on a rock now, her good hand pressing his jacket to her wound.

She looked up as if feeling his eyes on her and beckoned him closer with a jerk of her head.

If Shikamaru had thought Daisy was beautiful in day-time, night-time and artificial lightings, then she was drop-dead gorgeous now. The golden sunshine made her tanned skin glow warmly and the sun itself formed a halo of light around her head. She reminded him of a goddess from ancient myth come to life.

He finally joined her and asked what she wanted him to do now.

"_Take the emptier bottle and pour it over my leg until its completely empty._"

He nodded and she put the jacket down so she could push the hem of her skirt just out of his way. Shikamaru hesitated, but began pouring slowly, using his jacket to catch the run-off.

'Why does it bother me so much that Daisy's legs are showing?' he pondered, glad for that she wasn't paying attention to him on account of the light brushing of a blush that had settled on his face. 'Her legs are always showing from the knee down. And on her, that's a lot.' All the same, when they were close enough to touch, he felt something stir inside him…a feeling he couldn't quite place…

Daisy clenched her teeth tightly, her face pinched in a controlled grimace of pain. Just when she thought she couldn't take the stinging any longer, the contents of the bottle was finally emptied. She hadn't even realized she'd been holding her breath until she sighed softly in relief.

"_Now…_" she mouthed, swallowing the last traces of her grimace, "_get the white roll of cloth there. Here, I'll take the other bottle. Just a second…there._" She showed him the second bottle's contents and smiled a bit. "_Healing cream from the Hyuuga clan. Hinata gives it to me. Stuff works wonders._" She handed him the container to put away and slowly stood again. "_You'll have to help me put on the gauze, since I'm short a hand._"

Shikamaru nodded and set to work. With a bit of difficulty, they managed to get Daisy's leg wrapped and a make-shift sling for her damaged arm.

"Good thing you're right-handed, huh?" he half-smirked. She nodded sagely and winced as she tried to walk. Though her injured leg demanded a limping step, her medical knowledge told her to do otherwise; so she gritted her teeth and walked as normally as possible.

"So I suppose we should try and make it back to camp some how." Shikamaru commented. "Any ideas?"

"_As a matter of fact,_" Daisy replied, turning to face him, "_I do have something in mind. We'll want to get back to the fall and try to find a way back up that doesn't require climbing._"

"And from there," he continued her train of thought, "we can retrace our steps to the fall and catch up with Hinata and Gaara." He broke into a grin. "Smart. Good plan."

"_Thank you._" she smiled back kindly, "_I thought it was pretty good. The only problem is time._" She looked at the gorgeous sunset and frowned.

"Then we'd better get started. 'Time waits for no ninja', right?" he quoted, handing Daisy her backpack. She quickly slipped it on and nodded.

With Daisy's leaving her struggling to keep up and Shikamaru refusing to go ahead without her, their progress was much slower than either was satisfied with. After only making up a small portion of the distance before dark, they knew it was too dangerous for them to continue and decided to camp for the night.

Fairly soon after getting everything set up, Shikamaru left to find more firewood so they could cook something to eat. As soon as he was out of immediate earshot, Daisy heard the rustling of the branches above her – even though there was no wind. Suspicious, she slowly rose, watching the trees as she pulled out a kunai. Without warning, she whirled around with an intimidating expression and thrust the kunai against the throat of the person whom had set off her delicate sense of danger.

The tall boy chuckled calmly and said, "Peek-a-boo."

Daisy gasped with eyes wide and took a step back.

"K-Kabuto?" she whispered sharply. Her surprise quickly wore off, replaced with well-practiced despise.

"What do you want, _spy_?"

"Can't I stop by to check in on my sweet little sister and her dear friend?" Kabuto asked innocently. Daisy's deep blue eyes narrowed and flashed brightly.

"I'm all too aware that you have other motives, _brother._" she growled softly, "I'll ask again: what do you want?"

The silver-haired medical-nin sighed. "Never one to beat around the bush, were you? Very well. He asked for me to inquire about your decision."

"I haven't chosen yet. I still have time. I need to think about it more…"

Silence reigned. Then, with a true note of kindness in his voice, he spoke softly: "You know, there is a way out. You don't have to choose."

That got her attention with a start. Gently, she urged him to tell her about this possible escape route. When he tried though, intense pain shot through his throat and he cried out, reminded of the seal upon his tongue that bound his words.

"Kabuto!" Daisy let all traces of her hatred slip away as her concern took over. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"I'm…I'm sealed." he choked out, "I can't tell you anything. I'm… Daisy, I'm sorry. I wish there was some way…"

"That wretched, horrible, awful man! That…that vile snake-like son of a bitch!" she ranted in a fit of passion, "That-that-that…oooohh!"

Kabuto smiled wearily. "Same old Daisy, passionate about every little thing that touches your heart."

Daisy's anger wouldn't be quelled so easily, but Kabuto's words helped calm her a bit. But her aggression died as soon as she heard a new noise some ways off.

"Kabuto, you need to go." she worried, "I hear him coming back. But…tell Him… Tell Him I've made my choice."

"Are you sure little sister?"

"More sure than I've ever been big brother. Enough is enough. I can't allow anyone else to suffer because of me. Now go!" she called softly after him as he disappeared into the night.

Daisy paused at the edge of where the small, dwindling campfire's light reached, murmuring a prayer: "O Mater Luna, Regina noctis, audivo me nunca… Be careful Kabuto."

"Daisy!" Shikamaru called, bursting into the clearing, "Are you alright? I thought I heard someone yelling."

"_I'm fine._" she turned back to him and attempted a phony smile, "_Probably just some animal somewhere else in the forest._"

He nodded slowly. "Wouldn't surprise me. Anyway, as long as you're not hurt more than you already are…" He didn't sound totally assured.

When they both went to bed later, Daisy found she couldn't sleep. She was too anxious about the hasty decision she had made.

Earlier in the month, Orochimaru and Kabuto had approached her while on a mission and made a proposition: either stay in the Hidden Leaf Village and watch everyone around her suffer from their attack, or return to the Village Hidden in Sound of her own free will and the village would be spared.

Now Daisy had made her choice. She would go to them and finally – hopefully, anyway – end peoples' suffering because of her. But a new problem had presented itself: what if her friends tried to stop her, or worse, save her? She didn't know what exactly would happen, but she knew the consequences would be dire.

Thinking of this, a single tear slid down her face.

'Naruto…Hinata…Gaara… What have I done?'


	5. Chapter 5

"Hello? …oh, Hinata. What is it; I'm really– Wait, wait, slowdown. What were you saying?" Tsunade's paused, listening. Then her eyes widened and she almost dropped to phone. Fear, harsh and bitter, wrapped it's icy tendrils around her heart.

"WHAT happened to Daisy and Shikamaru during an earthquake?!"

"Exactly what I said happened, Lady Tsunade." Hinata confirmed solemnly, "They fell off the edge of the waterfall when the quake hit. Gaara is looking for them back at our camp, but…with both of them gone, we can't continue the mission. …so what should we do?..." Hinata nodded in agreement with what Tsunade said. "Okay. I'll talk to Gaara in the morning. Good night, Lady Tsunade." With that, Hinata hung up the payphone receiver and stepped away so someone else could use it, her head and shoulders drooping in thought.

It had taken Hinata the rest of the day to find a village nearby, the sun setting about the time she found a phone. Now it was too dark, and too dangerous, to try and make her way back to camp – she couldn't risk being ambushed. Normally, an enemy ambush wouldn't bother her – but given that Daisy and Shikamaru were missing, the team couldn't chance possibly losing her too.

She knew it wasn't exactly a good idea to stay overnight in the strange town by herself, but there wasn't anything else she could do. Hinata worried if Gaara would be angry with her for her poor planning.

'All the same,' she thought to herself, 'I should tell Gaara what's going on and where I'll be…' Resolved, she tuned her wireless radio and waited.

"Gaara? Come in Gaara… Yeah, i-its me…"

Shikamaru woke from his fitful sleep with a start to find something cold, solid and metal prodding his back. He rolled over to greet his "alarm clock" and found Daisy standing over him, looking a bit bored.

"_Morning._" she mouthed, looking down at him. She had her mechanical Bo staff slung over one shoulder and the hilt of a kunai sticking out of one shoe, which she had been using to wake him up.

Daisy shifted her Bo staff so Shikamaru could see the fish tied to it. As she did, her set expression softened. "_This is all I could catch for breakfast. Sorry._"

He rolled over more and propped himself up on one elbow. Yawning, he asked, "How long have you been up?"

She shrugged, her back to him. When she stood by the re-lit fire so that he could see her profile, she replied "_A while, I suppose. Haven't been keeping track._"

He rolled so that he could sit up and looked hard at her. Her refusal to look him in the eye was a bad sign.

"Daisy." he said slow and deliberate, "How long have you been up?"

She paused – no, hesitated – and mouthed "_Since yesterday. I didn't sleep._"

In the tense silence between them Shikamaru shook his head and opened his mouth to say something when Daisy turned, took the kunai from her shoe, and interrupted him with, "_You might want to cook the fish soon while I go find something else for us to eat. We'll need all the energy we can get._"

He shut his mouth, having no argument to her statement and watched her walk off in the direction of the rising sun.

Then it hit him just what time of day it was. "Wait a minute. Why'd you wake me up? It's dawn!"

She stopped and turned partway back towards him. "_Getting up at or before dawn assures the most daylight to travel by._"

"Sounds like you're familiar to the concept." he snorted.

"_That's because I am._"

Daisy turned away again, making it clear she wasn't going to elaborate on the subject. Shikamaru silently cursed himself for making her cross the day before and decided to ask Hinata about it when they got back. '_If_ we get back, that is.' he thought as he began cooking the fish. Once they were done and cooling, he washed up and got ready to leave.

About the time he was getting dressed, Daisy returned with a hand-made basket full of berries she had found. She didn't see him right away, and so looked around for him. When she spotted him putting his shirt on next to the river she couldn't help but stare. The water that still clung to Shikamaru's skin glistened and shone in the morning sun. It then dawned on her as she looked up into his face how awkward he must feel for seeing her gaping at him, for seen her, he had.

A blush spread hot, fast, and fierce across Daisy's cheeks as her heart skipped a beat. She backed up without a word and rushed off, hoping that Shikamaru hadn't noticed her fiery face.

But he had noticed, and wondered why she'd been blushing. She acted as though she'd never seen a guy getting dressed before. 'Considering she's a member of Naruto's squad, it really shouldn't bother her.' he thought, trying to shrug it off. 'Maybe she's just really modest.' Still, that strange feeling he only felt near her wouldn't leave him alone. The feeling urged him to go after her, and to try and appease it, he followed in the direction she'd run.

Before too long, Shikamaru heard someone singing ahead of him. The voice sounded like an angel's, like nothing he'd heard before, yet it was so familiar. He approached the clearing the singing was coming from. Without making a sound, he stepped through the brush and saw, to his surprise, it was Daisy that was singing.

Shikamaru didn't recognize the song, but Daisy loved it. For some reason she'd never understood, vocalizing one of the songs she played on her flute was like flipping a switch inside her that made her calm down. Unaware of Shikamaru's presence, she continued to sing the hauntingly beautiful melody until the end.

'Wow.' Shikamaru thought when she was done, 'Just…wow.'

Suddenly, Daisy sat up straighter and noticeably stiffened. Before he even had a chance to move out of sight, she stood and whipped around to see him. For a moment, they were both frozen in place, neither one moving a muscle. Then, in the blink of an eye, Daisy had rushed over to Shikamaru, pulled a kunai, and placed the tip against his shoulder. He hadn't even seen her move, so when she was right in his face, he couldn't help but jump. She glared at him with a surprising amount of malice and mouthed, "_Don't you dare tell anyone you heard me singing. I don't want to hurt you, but so help me Shikamaru, if you do, I swear to God-_"

"I won't tell anyone, I swear! Besides, no one would believe me if I did."

She paused. After staring deep into his eyes for a bit, she seemed to accept that what he said was true and backed off.

Putting the kunai away, she pushed past Shikamaru and headed back towards the make-shift camp. He followed close on her heels.

"If you don't mind my asking, why don't you want people to know you can sing?" he asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

Daisy shook her head and kept walking. He guessed she either meant "not now" or "that's not it." Or could she mean to say she didn't want to answer the question? From what he knew of her so far, he guessed that the last one was what she meant, since she didn't talk much about herself or her past.

'Maybe,' he reasoned, 'if I can get her to calm down and smile or laugh a little, she might open up again, like she did at the concert.'

As he thought that, he remembered the night in question. The way the lights had shined off her smooth skin and silken hair. The warmth in her face…the happy sparkle in her eyes…her easy, welcoming smile… Well, whether she was a divine maiden, or warrior goddess, it didn't matter. He would have to get her to talk somehow if he was going to try to get to know her.

"You have a, uh, lovely voice." he tried. She waved her hand as a simultaneous acknowledgement of the compliment and a thank you. Clearly, this was not the way to flatter her, if that was to be his tactic. So instead, the direct approach was next.

"Why won't you tell me anything about yourself?" letting his tone be questioning, rather than accusatory, "I just want to get to know you, and all you do is push me away. Have I done something to make you not trust me?"

Daisy sighed heavily (without opening her mouth, of course – that would have meant using her voice). Shikamaru was a persistent one, she'd give him that. She didn't feel like answering any more questions. She was done – 5,000% done – with questions. But she knew he wouldn't stop if she ignored him or told him so. He'd just find a way to make her answer with psychology bullshit anyway. And, to be fair, he had been completely open and honest with her from the start, while she had done nothing but shut him out. Just like she'd always done to people who got too close. But that was how she tested people. She made them chase her to the ends of the earth and back, trying to get to know her, to get close. Those who couldn't keep up and quit, or thought she was too much effort and quit were the ones who didn't deserve to be a part of her life. The ones that hadn't given up on her, no matter what she did, like Naruto and Hinata, had earned their place in her life and heart fair and square. In fact, Naruto and Hinata were the only ones so far to have accomplished that. Either no one else had tried, or they had failed her test, proving themselves of no value to her.

'Still. This was no way to be treating someone who has shown you nothing but kindness and respect. He has at least earned…_a few_ questions answered.' she thought to herself.

"_No Shikamaru. You have done nothing to make me distrust you. It's just…the way I am. I don't trust anyone until they can prove to me that they deserve it. And quite frankly, you may not be on my shitlist, but you haven't proven yourself either._"

"Then let me prove to you that you can trust me. Give me a chance." He came around in front of her, forcing her to stop and listen.

"Just tell me what I have to do, and I'll do it."

"_Anything? You'd do anything I say, just to prove it?_"

"Yes. Anything I have to."

"_Anything is a lofty price, Shikamaru. Do you have the patience, the courage, the heart to do it? You have no idea what I'm capable of making you do. Do you really want to risk that?_"

"We'll just have to see, won't we?"

She paused. Then sighed again and shook her head.

"_It's brave of you to say that. And I wish I could tell you that obedience was all it took to win my trust._" Pause. "_Actually, no, I don't. Because that would just be stupid. Either way, it takes a lot more that putting your trust in me to win me over. And I can't honestly tell you what you would need to do. It changes from person to person. You're just going to have to figure it out on your own._"

He then chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah, I figured it wasn't going to be that easy. Worth a shot, though. You really had me going. Don't worry, I'll think of something. Trust me."

Daisy smiled. Just a little.

"_Interesting choice of words._"

After getting back, they headed upriver, back towards the falls. Even with Daisy's injuries slowing their progress, they made good time. When they finally had to stop for the night, they were pleased to be close to the falls – practically at it's base. Daisy and Shikamaru both felt sure that they would either be found soon or they'd make it back on their own, no problems.

They had no idea how wrong they were.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Village Hidden in Sound: Orochimaru's Chambers**

"You were able to make contact?"

"Yes, my lord."

"And?"

"She tells me she has chosen. She is ready."

"Mmm. So she says. She betrayed us once. I won't let it happen again so easily."

"Shall I gather a team to retrieve her before she changes her mind?"

"No. Let her be…for now. We'll surprise her…if she cannot make her decision when it matters to her most, she should not have made it at all. Then we shall see if she is truly ready."

"Yes, my lord. As you see fit."

3[]3

'Finally…almost there.' Shikamaru thought, staring up the cliffs on either side of the waterfall he and Daisy had fallen from only two days before. He shook his head. Only two days…being by her side, getting to know as much about her as she would allow…it had felt like a lifetime. The last obstacle now stood 150 feet tall in front of them: climbing the cliff side back up to camp. Gaara and Hinata would be waiting for them. Assuming Hinata would have convinced Gaara to stay put, that is.

Daisy came up beside him and touched his elbow lightly for attention.

"_Thinking about how to get up there?_"

"Yeah. Think we can climb it?"

"_You maybe, but not me. My leg is already better, but my arm is still crap, and I can't climb with one hand._" He nodded in understanding.

Both looked back up the cliff side. Shikamaru had other ideas he could have offered, but he wanted to see what she would come up with on her own.

"_We could try calling up to them…_" she offered after getting his attention again, "_...but our coms are toast, so we'd have to find another way._"

He nodded. She was right about their communication devices. Hers had been smashed in the initial fall, and had been too water-logged to be of any use.

"What are you thinking? Smoke signals?"

"_No, but not a bad back-up._" She smirked at his tease. It was encouraging to see her opening up to him again – if slowly. "_I was thinking of something a little different._"

Then, looking back up, she reached up with her mind to see if anyone was still there. She found an anxiously pacing Hinata above them and Gaara sitting with his back to her, staring out over the forest. She almost grinned. Perfect.

'Gaara.' she called with her telepathy. She felt him mentally jolt at the sound of her voice. Then, to herself, 'Give him a moment to look around…'

'Daisy? Where are you?' he thought back. He had no telepathy of his own, but he knew she would be listening.

'At the base of the cliff. Lean forward and look down.'

He did. She waved at him. Shikamaru looked between them, surprised and confused.

Gaara then turned, and, calmly, "Hinata. They're here."

"Huh? Where? Down there? Are they okay?" the raven got down on her hands and knees next to him to look.

'My arm's kinda bum right now, Hinata, but we're fine otherwise.' Daisy replied, touching Hinata's mind now too.

"Oh, good. I'll get some rope or something."

As Hinata did this, Shikamaru turned to Daisy and asked, "Was that just luck, or did you do something I couldn't see to get their attention?"

'After a near-death experience at my expense, he deserves the truth.'

"_You're probably not going to believe me if I tell you._" When he crossed his arms and gave her a "try me" look, she sighed and replied, "_Okay…well, I'm a telepath. That's part of why I'm so good at being a ninja. I can literally get inside peoples' heads and get information. That's…also part of why I stand out more than other ninja._" She let some of the sheepishness she felt be expressed.

Her confession somehow surprised him and did not at the same time. He already knew she was capable of extraordinary things – her undeniable superhuman strength and speed were evidence enough of that.

"…you're not going to tell me that was a joke, are you?" She shook her head.

"Okay then. Fair enough."

Now it was her turn to be surprised.

"_You don't think I'm lying? That that isn't possible and that I'm making it up?_"

"Not really. Logically, it's the only thing that makes sense – besides that being a coincidence and you were kidding, which you said you weren't. And you don't seem the type to tell a lie unless it's for a good reason. Anyway, you said it yourself, I have no idea what you're capable of. I have no reason not to believe you."

She nodded slowly, processing his reasoning. And he was right; her explanation was the only thing that made sense with her actions.

"_Your reasoning is sound. That's just…not quite the reaction I was expecting._"

"How many other people know?" For her to expect a particular reaction, she must have told more people than just him.

"_Three. Hinata, Gaara, and Naruto. But I don't normally use it. A person with telepathic abilities is difficult for a majority of people to swallow._"

He nodded his agreement and understanding.

Just then, a sturdy rope dropped down between them. On the other end, Gaara and Hinata held it in place, waiting to pull them up.

"Ready to go?"

She hesitated, her delicate sense of danger warning her they weren't safe, but that the danger wasn't imminent. She cautiously looked around, scanning the area for what was setting her off.

"Something wrong?" Daisy's hesitation made him uneasy. She waved him silent, having turned away from him, then turned her head and mouthed, "_Do you feel that?_"

He paused, trying to "feel" whatever it was she was sensing, but "felt" nothing. His brow furrowed. "No. What am I supposed –"

She cut him off by coming back and putting a finger gently to his lips. Then she used her fingertips to close his eyes. On his hand she spelled, "_Open your mind to the forest. Don't think._ _Feel._"

So, keeping his eyes closed, heart racing at her touch, he made himself calm and relaxed, opening his mind like she'd instructed.

He could hear everything, but see nothing. The roar of the falls next to them. The chatter of animals and insects. The breeze ruffling the leaves. Taking all this in, he then began to feel, as she had meant it. He could sense the presence of everything around him. The falls, the animals and bugs, the wind, the trees – even Daisy standing by his side. Then something shifted. Something moved or changed that was not natural to this environment, and he felt it. The presence of something more dangerous than them.

Daisy waited for the change in his expression signaling he finally felt what she did.

"_You feel it._" she gently pressed into his hand when his face changed.

He nodded, then opened his eyes and looked at her. Both wore grave expressions, and in that moment, they communicated without word or thought – only their eyes.

She slowly pulled her staff pieces out of her pocket and assembled it. He shifted his stance so that he could be ready to do whatever was necessary to protect her. Everything seemed to go still and quiet. It was the calm before the storm.

Suddenly, a white rabbit hopped out of the bushes and into their line of sight. Both stared. Then it turned their direction and started slowly hopping towards them.

Shikamaru may have been fooled, but Daisy knew better than to trust appearances. She crouched down as it approached a little more so she could get a better look at it from a distance. It didn't take her long to realize what it was, and as soon as her expression changed, the rabbit started moving double-time. She jerked upright again in alarm and flew through the options in her head. One, two, three hops closer. Finally deciding on a course of action, she turned, grabbed Shikamaru's arm, and bolted for the water. Not five steps later, the rabbit stopped where they'd been standing, turned, and started after them.

Shikamaru was stunned. Why the violent reaction from Daisy? It looked like an ordinary rabbit to him. She had seen something he hadn't then. Something dangerous or she would have dismissed it. That would explain her reaction – and why the rabbit seemed to accelerate when she came to whatever conclusion she'd reached. It _was_ unusual that the rabbit was chasing them. Rabbits in the wild didn't chase things. What made this one behave so strangely?

He soon found out. When they were about three-quarters of the way to the other bank, the rabbit leaped into the river, landing dead center. Upon contact with the water, it promptly exploded. The shock wave sent the two flying to the other side. Both sat up, quickly recovering from the landing. Then they smelled something tantalizingly sweet.

Shikamaru turned to look at Daisy to see if she smelled it too and saw that she had her good hand over her nose and mouth (having switched her staff to her other hand). He went to follow suit, trusting her judgment that hadn't failed them yet, when, as he reached, his whole arm went numb and fell limp. He could feel the sensation spreading, more and more of his body going numb at an alarming rate until he at last became completely limp and flopped backwards, unable to move, like a discarded ragdoll.

Daisy had known what the smell was as soon as she got her first whiff of it, which was why she still sat upright as she helplessly watched Shikamaru flop over. She knew what would cause those symptoms – a specially designed nerve gas that kept the subject awake and stable, but totally immobile. She held her breath, waiting for the quick-dissipating gas to go, her muscles twitching and straining against what she had already breathed in. Unfortunately, just before the gas was completely gone, she suddenly gasped for air, unable to hold it any more for want of not passing out for a lack thereof. She struggled not to give in, but too quickly succumbed to the gas and collapsed onto her side, silently cursing.

"Are you alright?" Shikamaru called, not being able to see her now. She snorted loudly, unable to give any other kind of response.

Suddenly, they heard a new set of voices and footsteps coming their way.

"The rabbit puppet worked very well. We shall have to remember this for another time."

"I'll say it worked! Look! We finally caught up to little miss incredible. What should we do with her, Itachi? Eh? Waddya think?"

Daisy grunted in pain as she was lifted into the air by her throat and turned to see their attackers – Itachi Uchiha and his shark-faced companion, Kisame.

"We follow orders, of course. Kill her."

Shikamaru jerked in alarm, barely noticing that he shouldn't have been able to move at all.

"That'll make a lot of people really mad – could we at least have fun doing it? Make it worth the annoyance later?"

Daisy saw Itachi smile a bit.

"I don't see why not. Just don't alert the two at the top of the falls.

Kisame grinned, revealing his sharp, menacing teeth. Daisy's heart roared in her ears, panicking slightly as she tried to think of an escape plan. Then, Shikamaru bravely called, "Leave her alone!"

That distracted the two black-clad men instantly. "Hah? What the–? Did we get a two-for?"

"It appears so. That makes him a witness – and a liability."

"So kill him?"

"Yes."

Kisame turned back to Daisy, whom he still dangled in the air, and grinned again.

"Hear that little damsel? Your little knight-sidekick gets to die with you! You won't go to Hell alone. Ain't that sweet?"

How badly she wanted to break her silence to cut him with her silver tongue! But as he spoke, she could feel the strength returning, and her actions had always spoken louder than her words.

Without hesitation, she used her lightning-fast reflexes to grab Kisame's sword, pull it, and then swing it at his head. With a cry of alarm, he released her in surprise and jerked out of the way of the unusual blade. Then she jumped in front of Shikamaru to protect him, as he was slower to recover from the paralysis.

"I suppose we should have checked the potency of the gas."

"Ya think?!" Kisame was furious.

Not giving them another moment to consider how to respond, Daisy used all her might to hurl the blade at them – which they, of course, easily dodged. The distraction was enough, however, to buy her time to grab her staff, haul Shikamaru to his feet, and start across the river. In a couple of bounds, she carried them across and to the rope.

In the time it took the two men to regroup and cross, Daisy had tied the rope around Shikamaru and herself and gotten Hinata and Gaara to start pulling them up.

Pulling a kunai and some shuriken before Itachi could stop him, Kisame shouted, "This isn't over yet!" and threw them. Daisy froze, knowing that if the weapons hit their mark, they would kill her. Shikamaru knew that too, and did the most remarkable thing – he swung them around where he was positioned in front of her, using himself as a shield to intercept the weapons. The kunai buried itself deep into his shoulder, and the shuriken landed close to his spine. He cried out, features twisting up in pain. It all happened so fast, she had no time to react. Her face was the definition of shocked and horrified.

"SHIKAMARU!"

"Come Kisame. We must beat a hasty retreat and regroup. Another time, little demon princess."

With that, they were gone. Shikamaru slumped against Daisy with a grimace of pain etched on his face. He forced a brave, tough little smirk for her and grunted, "It's not so bad. I barely felt it because of the nerve gas. Oh, hey," he realized, actually smiling, "You spoke. You said my name."

"Shh…" she softly silenced him, "I know. Save your strength, Shikamaru. Hang on. We're almost there."

Daisy was a whirlwind of mixed emotions. Anger, confusion, fear, admiration, worry…and something else that rose above the others, something that she had only heard described to her until then and she refused to acknowledge. She felt her heart drumming faster as she denied that other stronger feeling and swallowed past the lump in her throat, looking up, silently begging Gaara and Hinata to pull faster. She unconsciously clung to him, desperately hoping she could heal him in time.

Finally, they reached the top, and Daisy had Gaara and Hinata help get Shikamaru over the edge, then climbed over herself. Hinata then helped get Shikamaru situated into Daisy's lap so she could get to work. Using her telepathy, she told Shikamaru, 'Stay still. This is going to hurt.'

Then, bracing herself, she swiftly pulled out the shuriken, then the kunai. Shikamaru gritted his teeth against the shuriken, but he couldn't stop himself from crying out again and writhing when she pulled out the kunai. Tears formed in her eyes and she embraced him to keep him still.

'I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.'

Then she let him go, getting her kit out and setting to work. First, a pain pill.

'Open. Swallow. It'll hurt less.'

Next, she began to stitch his wounds, starting with the kunai.

There was a rustling in the foliage. Considering what had just happened to them, she didn't want to take any risks.

"_Gaara, Hinata, cover us. I need to finish this – make sure that if we have to run, it's as a last-ditch effort. I can't move him without hurting him._"

"Right!" from Hinata. Gaara just nodded, both of them taking a defensive stance.

The leaves rustled more. Then, a small search party headed by Shizune burst into the clearing and they relaxed – all but Daisy, who stayed focused on Shikamaru and ignored them.

"How is he?" Shizune asked, kneeling next to Daisy. Daisy projected her thoughts to Hinata so she could keep working.

"Pretty bad. The injuries are deep, and there was a lot of blood loss. He'll heal, but there'll be scars…and he may be paralyzed. It's difficult to tell."

"And you?"

She hesitated, then finished stitching the last of his wounds.

"Fine. It'll heal." She cut the thread with her teeth and went to work actually healing him.

"Can you walk? Is it safe to move him?"

"Yes to the first, no to the second – not yet."

So they waited, each on their guard, until Daisy shook her head, and Hinata spoke for her again.

"There's nothing more she can do for him here. We can move him safely now."

As Daisy helped them get Shikamaru set comfortably, she glanced at Hinata for if they were coming.

"We'll stay behind and pack up. Y-you go on ahead – follow him. He'll want to see you when he w-wakes up." Gaara nodded, having already started packing up.

She nodded and went with Shizune and the rescue party back to the village, the whole time fretting over him behind her blank-faced mask.


	7. Chapter 7

The next thing Shikamaru remembered was waking up in a hospital room. He went to move and flinched at the pain in his back and shoulder. He gingerly reached around to touch the spot on his shoulder that hurt. He felt a slightly raised scar with his fingertips, and when he felt it, how it got there came rushing back. The waterfall…he and Daisy had almost been home free…they'd been ambushed with nerve gas by Akatski members…she'd recovered fast enough to get them to relative safety…the flash of shuriken and kunai…he'd swung around to protect her…pain, intense and blinding…and she'd screamed his name. His heart picked up a bit when he remembered that. He also vaguely remembered trying to comfort her before going numb from the pain and blacking out. He'd dropped his arm across his lap and wondered how Daisy was doing when a nurse came in.

"Oh! You're awake! How're you feeling?" She smiled as she bustled over to check on him.

"Sore."

"Well, I suppose that's to be expected when you nearly get entire bodily paralysis from nasty shuriken and kunai wounds. You know, she predicted you'd be sore when you woke up." At his confused look, she added, "She's there, sleeping in that chair."

He turned to find this "mystery girl sleeping in the chair" and saw that, sure enough, Daisy was curled up in a ball in a chair positioned immediately next to his bed, fast asleep. He noticed her injured arm was now in a cast, but she seemed fine otherwise.

"She came in with you and insisted on refusing treatment until we helped you with her supervising the whole time. That girl is a force of nature, and the youngest and only medical ninja on par with Lady Tsunade, so we couldn't exactly insist on doing anything until she gave permission. Once she was sure you were looked after, she let us set her arm properly – shattered bone in her arm – and then she refused to let us move her from your side." The nurse seemed to huff at Daisy's stubbornness with a certain amount of odd respect. She then continued, looking right at Daisy the whole time.

"I swear, I've never seen that girl be so strong for someone else before. You must be something special to her." With that, she bustled out of the room to go get the doctor.

Shikamaru turned back to Daisy. She looked so serene when she slept…he reached over and brushed a lock of hair out of her face. The slight motion woke her up, but very slowly. She sighed and pressed her cheek into his hand. He froze, then, unsure what else to do, lightly rubbed his thumb across her cheek. She sighed again, sounding for all the world like the purr of a contented cat, before fluttering her eyes slowly open. She at upright in surprise when she realized he was awake (accidentally pulling away from his hand when she did). Concern flashed onto her delicate features as she produced a pad and pen and scribbled, "How are you feeling?" with the beginning of "Are you okay?" marked out. Her sudden expressiveness was surprising.

"Peachy. Sore where I was hit."

She relaxed, relief taking concern's place, and smiled warmly, her eyes sparkling softly. She nodded, signifying that that was a good thing. The glitter in her eyes faded as guilt replaced the smile.

"You didn't have to protect me like that. Why did you?" she scratched next.

"Because I didn't want you to get hurt, and you would have been killed if they'd hit you."

She wrote, then paused before continuing. When she showed it to him, it read, "I know. I'm sorry you got hurt because of me."

"My own fault for getting in the way." he replied with a smirk. She shook her head at him and chuckled silently.

"Yeah…that was pretty stupid…and brave." ("I know." was marked out.) Before he had a chance to reply, she came back with, "Foolish man." and coupled it with a smile and grateful eyes of liquid sapphire. He couldn't help but smile back and reply in the most endearing way possible, "Troublesome woman." Then the doctor walked in and boomed, "Well! Glad to see you're still with us, Mr. Nara!"

After some chit-chat and tests of his strength and mobility, Daisy checked him out and walked with him, neither one really sure where they were going.

"The doctor never checked on you." Shikamaru realized as they walked. "How're _you_ feeling?" (She'd had to leave the pad and pen with the hospital staff, so she switched back to signing as much as possible when she replied.)

"_Fine. A broken arm is nothing serious for me. Believe me, I've looked worse – more like something the cat dragged in._" she reassured him with a smile and a silent chuckle.

"_Besides, Tsunade is my official doctor, so they're not supposed to touch me without her consent. As long as I'm by myself though, most of the time they'll just listen to whatever I say._"

"Why didn't we see her then?"

"_Because she's on Hokage business and I wanted to leave before she got back. She gets really annoying around me. She tries to stay professional, but she always ends up acting like a mom anyway._" The brunette shook her head and sighed, adding, "_I've tried to set her straight time and time again, but she can't seem to help herself. It's like she still sees me as the helpless little kid she first met._"

"So she acts like you're mom, but she's not." he ventured. She nodded. He noticed that every time they saw someone, she would go blank-faced like before, but as soon as they were alone again, she'd open back up – smile, frown, furrow her brows, things that displayed her emotions.

After a pause, he asked, "Why are you being so expressive all of a sudden?" She looked surprised he'd asked.

"_Do you not like it? I can go back to poker-facing if it makes you more comfortable…_"

"No no, it's fine – like it when you smile – it's just that, from the way you were acting before…" He blushed after he realized he'd blurted the bit about liking her smile. At first, she blushed too and covered by ducking her head, then recovered and focused on him as he trailed off. She nodded in understanding.

"_Yeah, I know. It's kind of weird. Normally I would never be so open – even with someone who saved my life – but with you…I don't know why, but it comes naturally for me to open up to you. It's like I'm a fortress, but when you're around, my walls crack and crumble away._"

Together they sat on a bench while he processed the information.

"Only me?"

She nodded.

"Why?"

She shrugged.

"_I don't know. I just know it happens. Just because I can observe it doesn't mean I can discern its cause so easily._"

Shikamaru nodded in understanding – or as much "understanding" as he could manage. There was an awkward pause before Daisy suggested they go find a nice place to lay and watch the clouds. He readily agreed – cloud watching was high on his list of things he like to do while being lazy.

They found a good rooftop to lay on and stayed there for hours. They both enjoyed every minute of it – until it got dark and they were verge of sleep. Then they got up, and Shikamaru insisted on walking Daisy home, no matter how much she protested.

"_Stubborn man._" she huffed when she finally caved, to which he smiled and replied, "Troublesome woman."

For a while, they walked arm in arm in silence. Something that had bothered Shikamaru since he remembered what had happened came back to pester him again: the Akatski members that had ambushed them had unmistakably known Daisy, and she them. He acknowledged that he knew little – next to nothing, really – about her past, and he reasoned that they'd been attacked because of some past connection between her and the Akatski that she hadn't yet mentioned. That alone was a worrying thought, but coupled with the fact that she virtually didn't exist before the Hidden Leaf Village – even though it was obvious that she wasn't from the Hidden Leaf Village – made him assume she had some sort of questionable past that she was trying to escape. He knew by her keeping it a secret, she was putting others at risk – he was proof of that. But he also had no doubt that she knew that, and kept it a secret anyway, which could mean that she thought other people having knowledge of her past was worse than the chance she took keeping it from them. He wanted to ask her about it, to try and understand her better, if not to see what it was that was bad enough for her to keep it a secret…but he knew if he asked her directly, she would shut him down. In the silence, his mind whirled, spinning with questions, trying to come up with a good way to ask her. The whole time, she was just enjoying his company. Finally, he cautiously asked if he could ask her a personal question.

"_Depends on what it is._"

"I've noticed you don't talk much about any time before you met Tsunade and stayed in the village after she left. Why is that?"

Her face darkened and she looked away before replying.

"_Because it's not a time I'm proud of. …I've done terrible things, Shikamaru. Things that I'm shocked I ever did willingly; things that, to this day, haunt my every waking thought and my dreams. Things that make me scared of what I'm capable of doing. And even though I'm not the same person I was when I did those things, it terrifies me to think that there's probably not one single person who would understand that and still accept me if they knew what I've done._"

Shikamaru pulled Daisy to a stop and made her look him in the eye before he would speak.

"Look…I care about you. That's not something I'm normally willing to admit. And part of what that means is that, regardless what it is you have to say, I'm willing to listen. Even if it's something horrible, I'll hear you out. But that's only if you want to tell me. Now, I can't guarantee that I _will_ understand if you tell me…but I'm willing to _try_, so long as you'll let me."

She looked deep into his eyes, searching for anything that would give him away as not being true to what he was saying – a catch, a hesitation, a flicker of anything else. And true, in his eyes, she saw apprehension for what she would tell him, should she choose to confide in him…but there too she saw the strength of his convictions. He would do exactly as he'd said to a T – no matter what she told him, he would sit…he would listen…he would try – for her.

"_Okay. But it's a long story, and trust me, you'll want to be sitting down. We'll talk at my house, where it's safe._"

He nodded and offered her his arm again. She took it and hugged it tight, leaning her head on his shoulder while she walked – like she was afraid he would disappear if she let him go.

When they got to her house, she let them in and helped get him settled comfortably on the couch before going into the kitchen to make tea. The house was remarkably quiet: no one seemed to hear them, or call to see if she was home, or anything like that.

"You live alone?" he ventured a guess when she returned with the tea. She nodded – which didn't really surprise him. She seemed the type to want to be on her own rather than have someone looking after her and doting on her.

"_Tsunade pays the rent for me, but I'm the only one who lives here._"

She paused, hesitating before taking an awkward sip of her tea and deciding what to say.

"_Are you sure? About this, I mean. I'll understand if –"_

"I'm sure. You have my full attention."

She nodded and breathed a nervous sigh, trying to decide where to begin.

"_Okay… I guess I'll start from when things got _really_ bad._

"_About the time I was seven, circumstances made it where I was orphaned and alone. To that point, I had not been raised by my biological father (in fact, I had no idea who he was) and the man I'd thought was my father – the man who raised me like I was his – he…left me to find my own way. That's when I met Orochimaru._"

Shikamaru was surprised, to say the least, when she brought up the outlawed ninja. He hadn't been sure what to expect, but that was definitely not it. Daisy was watching his face for reactions when she wasn't caught up in her own story, and paused to let him take that in before continuing.

"_Obviously, I didn't trust him at first…but he told me he'd known my mother, and that he knew _me._ And he proved it. He showed me photos of them together, and proved to me, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he was my biological father._"

Shikamaru leaned back in his seat in shock. She'd been right about him wanting to be sitting down for this story. She was the daughter of Orochimaru, one of the most feared ninja of their time! Never in his wildest imaginings would he have thought she'd say that. He found himself thinking, 'Talk about a bombshell.'

"_Once he informed me of that, he let me choose: join him or go on my merry way. At the time, I was a lost little kid, all by myself in the big bad world, and so I chose to go with him. I followed him like a love-starved puppy and he made me one of his agents, despite how young I was. So under him, I trained. From him, I was taught that emotions and expressions were for the weak, and showed weakness in ourselves when exposed. Beyond that, I basically learned how to be a child ninja prodigy, and with how hard I worked to please him and how skilled I'd become with my training, it wasn't all that long before I became one of his top agents. I had a squad of other ninja under my command, all older than me. They obeyed my orders like everything I said was from Orochimaru himself. By the time I was eight, I'd lead so many missions I'd lost count – recon, tracking, search, destroy, search _and_ destroy, assassinations – you name it, I'd probably lead one. And for a long time, I didn't question the orders I was given – I just followed them in the vain effort of pleasing him. But then…on one of our assassination missions, I rescued Kabuto from someone on my squad. I'd always given them strict instructions on those kinds of missions: only go after the target, no one else. I knew he wasn't the target, so I saved him. However, when I brought him back with us, Orochimaru ordered someone not under my command to kill him anyway. I fought them off, deliberately disobeying the unspoken rule of 'don't contradict the boss.' Orochimaru was furious with me for intervening, but I refused to let him hurt Kabuto. I made it clear that he hadn't been involved in our mission, I'd seen what he could do, I'd thought it would be good if he came with us, and he would be staying with me, regardless of what Orochimaru said. And if Orochimaru would let him join and something went wrong, I was willing to take full responsibility for him and his actions as consequences of my own. Orochimaru considered that and let him be, deciding to go with my judgment on the matter. After that little incident though, I found myself questioning whether or not Orochimaru was really having us do the right thing. I wondered if what I'd done under his orders – if the people I'd killed, the things I'd stolen, the lives I'd ruined – were actually for the right reasons. So, using the training he'd given me, I did some digging. I found quite a bit, but since I was so young at the time, I didn't understand most of it. The one thing I did understand was my name, written in code like the rest of the document to protect its contents and meaning. The only way I was able to decipher my name was that I'd seen it written in code like that before – the man who raised me was an official of sorts, and if he had to bring work home, he wrote in code so I couldn't read it. I kept it actually, and I'm trying to decode it, along with two other encoded documents like it from other sources. At the time, though, a paper with my name on it that I couldn't read wasn't enough proof to confirm the horrible suspicion I'd had about Orochimaru, so I stayed on with him, hoping to find something that would either prove me wrong and put my mind at ease, or prove me right and give me a reason to leave. Pretty soon after my ninth birthday, I got my wish for proof._ _Kabuto, Orochimaru, and I went on a mission together, just the three of us. We were looking for something – a scroll of some kind, I think – in some ancient temple or other along those lines. I don't remember much about the way there or the journey to get to it, but we did find what we were looking for. When Orochimaru took it, though, we were attacked. Our intel had said the place was abandoned and the mission was to be like a child's treasure hunt, so we were not prepared for such a thing. And that wasn't our only problem: even though it was clear as day in every part of the building, the thing that attacked us surrounded itself in darkness. We couldn't even _see_ it, let alone try to discern how to fight back against it. We had no choice but to retreat with our prize._"

Daisy was so wrapped up in telling her story, she didn't seem to notice that her signs sped up and slowed down with the pace of the action, and her expressions mirrored those she'd had when she first lived through the events. Here, however, she paused, and her face looked haunted. Had she been speaking, her voice would have barely been above a whisper as she spoke her next words. Shikamaru was on the edge of his seat, hanging on her every word.

"_I most clearly remember when we were running away. I still remember hearing the thing in the darkness behind us, hissing at us as it chased us. I still remember looking back and seeing nothing but the blackness, swallowing all the light and warmth, and the sharp, solid tendrils of darkness speeding along the walls, reaching to get ahead of us to try and cut us off. I still remember how scared I was…couldn't think, couldn't breathe, just run, heart racing, hair flying, ears roaring, feet pounding, running, running; limbs aching, screaming, pumping, running, faster, _faster_, _**faster**_… Kabuto and Orochimaru fell into a pitfall trap. I went back for them and Kabuto was already out, trying to help, but the darkness was closing in on us. I jumped in and pushed Orochimaru out, jumped out, we made to run again. They jumped ahead, I was stopped, falling flat, and I looked, and…one of the tendrils was wrapped around my foot and was crawling up my leg. I still remember feeling it as it moved, crawling, creeping, darkness seeping into me where it touched. I panicked, kicked, screamed, help, brother, father, Kabuto, Orochimaru, please, help me, help – and Kabuto turned back for me. But Orochimaru ordered 'leave her' and ran. I knew Orochimaru would leave someone behind if he felt they had served their purpose, but I never thought he'd say that about me. I was his daughter – he'd never abandon me – others, sure, but not me…but in that moment, I'd been discarded. Used, crumpled up, and tossed aside like trash. Like I didn't matter. Kabuto hesitated, for a second, torn between the man he practically worshipped and the girl that was a little sister to him and had saved his life multiple times. I was still in shock that Orochimaru had abandoned me, so my eyes were my only plea for help I had – and he chose Orochimaru over me. He turned tail and ran after him. And still there was the creeping, crawling, seeping darkness slowly swallowing my body like the light. I shouted for them, begging them to come back – no, brother, father, please, don't leave me, help, please, come back; crying now, please, please, help, don't leave me, help, please, come back, father, brother, please, until I was drained of all my light and warmth and energy and the creeping, crawling blackness swallowed me whole._"

She paused, seeming to need to rest after reliving that terrifying time. For a minute, she let the silence hang, calming herself, reassuring herself the darkness was not coming to claim her. Then she continued.

"_When I woke up, I was lying right where I'd fallen, alive and unhurt…and tragically enough, alone again. They never came back for me, and they never sent anyone to search for me. No one even bothered to take it upon themselves to look when they returned without me. My guess, Orochimaru and Kabuto thought they'd left me for dead – I would have and did think the same thing – and told everyone that we 'encountered an unexpected threat' and that I was 'valiant' enough to stay behind and hold the 'threat' so they could get away with the treasure. Then they'd add that it was 'unlikely that I would ever return from the fight.' Everyone would know that was a bunch of BS, but they'd take my loss in stride anyway because I was the only one there brave enough to question it…and I was supposedly dead. And I let them think I was until they'd found out otherwise. That was how I left Orochimaru's service._"

At first, silence. Shikamaru now understood why Daisy'd been keeping her past a secret. A tale that outrageous would never be believed unless you knew her. And if people did believe her, the facts certainly didn't help her cause in the Hidden Leaf Village. The people of the village only really trusted her because she was with a squad of other ninja who looked like they could keep her in check, or because Tsunade trusted her. If word got out about her lineage alone, she would never be welcome in the village again. And she seemed to know that, which was why she was right to think that there was an extremely slim chance that anyone would understand that she wasn't her father, and wasn't the same person she was when she followed him. Still, he knew at the very least, he would never be able to look at her the same way again.

All that also explained why she didn't express herself openly. Being taught that emotions were a bad thing, she would have learned how to make a mask of indifference for herself, to prevent herself from being thought of as weak. He reasoned she would have kept her mask out of habit, since it coincided with her original ninja training. At some point, she probably realized her voice was just as much, if not more, of a giveaway to her emotions as her facial expressions were, and she became mute out of choice, to further push the point of how disconnected she made herself from the world.

Suddenly, he remembered the whole reason for this scene in the first place: all this understanding her stuff was fantastic, but it had failed to answer the question why they'd been attacked by Akatski members. Agents under Orochimaru, he could now get, but Akatski?

"So…what about the Akatski? How do they fit in?"

It was the first time he'd actually spoken since she'd started. She raised her eyebrows in surprise and confusion, then lowered them as she quickly understood why he'd asked.

"_The Akatski view me as an ultimate weapon of sorts,_" she sighed, "_and since they first got wind of me while I was in Orochimaru's hands, I became a serious problem for them. So they gave all their agents orders to kill me on sight should I ever cross their path. And apparently, I'm too powerful and dangerous for anyone to handle or to leave alone because those orders still hold. Those are the orders the two that attacked us were following. It seems that, as long as they don't have any other orders to follow at the time, they default back to those and make it their mission to personally take me down. Consequently, they follow me, track me, attack me whenever they can… I've been dealing with them since they first got the orders while I was under Orochimaru. They've been the proverbial thorn in my side ever since._"

He nodded in understanding.

"Do you mind if I ask about before all of that happened? Or after?"

"…_after all that nonsense I met Tsunade. You already know about my time with her, so I'll just summarize: she took me in on her travels and raised me for a year, making me ten when I stopped traveling with her and stayed in the Hidden Leaf Village. At that time, I joined the Academy, blah, blah, blah, the rest is history. As for before…_" She shook her head sadly.

"_I don't want to talk about it. Not right now._"

Daisy not only looked sad, she looked downright depressed by the thought of her life before she'd encountered Orochimaru. It pained Shikamaru to see her that way, so he came and sat next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders for comfort and support. She didn't look at him when she spoke next, afraid of what his responses would be.

"_You're not afraid of me?_"

"No."

"_You're not going to run away?_"

"Never."

"_You're not going to blackmail me?_"

"Not in all of eternity."

"_You're not going to tell anyone?_"

"Wouldn't dream of it unless you gave me permission first."

She paused and finally looked at him, a heartbreaking expression on her face.

"_...will you stay?_"

He smiled endearingly at her in reply.

"As long as you want me to."

With that, she wasted no time in curling up against him, face buried in his chest, arms around him in a hug. He adjusted for her, letting her get comfortable before pulling the blanket off the back of the couch to wrap her in. The whole time, he kept one arm around her shoulders to show her he was here and he wasn't going anywhere. She used her telekinesis to turn off the lights, and before long, they were both fast asleep, keeping each other company, holding onto each other as though they never wanted this time together to end.


End file.
